G77

My water&electricity is $160 a month and the gas is $110 a month (equal payments over the year - I'm currently well in pocket).

I just filled up with unleaded - 11 and a half gallons (yes DBD, the pump was in gallons alone) for $18 USD, though that's admittedly not an option for anyone except those of us on the border.

jancal

Its the damp that really makes you feel so cold in the UK. I never wear woolies indoors here and today its -30 outside (Calgary).

tinytears

I thought Mark must have been somewhere like that, I spoke with my brother yesterday and he said it wasn't too bad (not that that means anything very much and certainly wasn't very descriptive but I get the feeling he doesn't want to freak me out!!)

Oh wow, have you just made the move? How are you finding it? We were advised to move in the summer and build into the winter gradually! Certainly from what we have seen Canadians seem to cope with weather so much better than here - from the houses, to cars to roads, everything seems set up for proper seasons!


The water is so much cheaper isn't it? Seems like gas/electricity is similar but a bit lower?

We'll be renting to start but I think you get a lot more space for your money, even if it is the £ to $ equivalent spend. For the same as our current mortgage we are looking at 2,500 sq ft although in reality it is still a four bed detached house. The basements make a huge difference though in terms of living space.

OMG at your petrol prices. I know it is a different gallon but we were up to well over £5 a gallon earlier, I remember when I had my first car about 15 years ago I could fill the whole tank for a tenner which is effectively what you are saying isn't it?

I have to say I agree it is the grey and damp - it is so dark and dingy today, it is like someone forgot to turn on the lights outside, it has barely got light all week its just so grey and I think that is what gets to me more than anything else, there is nothing to lift your spirits here it is just so depressing.

G77

Well, it wasn't quite a full tank - more like 3/4 tank, but yea, not far off a tenner to fill up Remember that is US prices though, Canada is slightly more expensive.

stepnek

I'm not sure there's anything to build into. My experience of the last four winters since being here is that there it is, it's arrived! Suddenly the temperature drops and we're amidst the white stuff and generally there it stays for the next three or four months.

tinytears

When we were there last year we kept filling up the car with petrol and actually driving and going places without having to think how much it was going to cost. We were laughing because I think the prices were still about a quarter of what we were paying and yet it was headline news how much the cost of petrol had gone up in Canada (last April).

We have a business and it had got to the point where we had to really think about whether we could go to a meeting that was going to cost us £60 plus in petrol, it was madness earlier on. Its not quite as bad now although it still costs about £50 to fill up and we don't have a big car really!

Lets just hope the pounds stablises a bit and we can still get almost CAD $2 for a £1 which will help the move and so we will see the real benefit of much lower fuel prices.

christmasoompa

You seem to be paying a ridiculous amount! We are also in a 4 bed detached (1970's), but I'm at home all day with two young children so have heating on all day, and we have at least 2 baths & a shower a day between all of us. Washing machine on twice a day, tumble drier on most days and dishwasher at least once. But our bills are far less than yours, annual water bill approx £400 and our monthly bill for gas and electricity is £90 so just over £1000 per year. Diesel is also down to less than a pound around here now.

You seem to be paying far too much, I'd shop around and switch if I were you!

tinytears

So the temperatures don't drop over the autumn like they do here (well in theory, in truth it is just rainy and grey all year round)?

tinytears

You see I just don't get it, especially the water bill - how can it be so high? Maybe we need to speak to them to find out why it has gone so ridiculously high - it is about 6 times higher than last year I think. There was a huge waste bill to it as well.

I'm going to dig it out and have a look

christmasoompa

Just edited my post as I realised our water bill is quarterly, not six monthly but even so you're paying way too much! I have grabbed our last bill and it was £108.51 for the end of May to end of September, which would cover washing machine on almost constantly, dishwasher at least once a day, car washing & paddling pool filling during summer (no hosepipe ban here), one bath a day for children, one bath a day for me, and power shower each day for hubby. Plus all usual washing up, cleaning, etc.

Hope that helps.

tinytears

They want to take our payments from £18.58 per month to £63.43 a month making a total payment for 12 months of £761.38.

When we last got a bill in May we were £58.40 in credit (ie, from the six months previously we had over paid by £58.40). We paid there recommended amount and yet we are now in debt by £188 because we have been underpaying as they put the charges up plus they have put it up to£577.55!

The bill is just so complicated too, it is hard to make out what on earth all the charges are.

So they have doubled the water charges over six months.

Do you know what your cubmic meter reading is from your last bill?

From December to May last year we used 123 cubic metres.

chumley

around 2600 feet of home and we are home all day

water bills zero we have a well

heating bills zero we have our own wood

council tax $622 a year so around £312 a year

elec $98 a month

oil as back up cost to fill tank $900 might be a lot less less now though as we filled it when oil was at the peak price so far we have used no oil heating at all as the woodburner has been enough to heat the entire home and we have had minus 18

just no comparison with uk uitlities for us

christmasoompa

Right, have got the bill and it's from 14th April - 2nd October (longer than I thought), the total for water is £59.01 which is 52 cubic metres (52 x £0.8752 per cubic metre, plus £13.50 standing charge), then sewerage charge is £27.00 plus standing charge of £22.50. So £108.51 in total.

We have a water meter so it's not estimated, is actual use and it's with Three Valleys Water.

Hope that helps.

fledermaus

We have recently moved so dont have all the bills to hand yet. We have a 2 bed 2 bth house that is 1050 sqft so am curious about how you have 4 beds in the same space?

Our first months water bill was $80, $30 of that was supply charges but thats unusual. Electricity was $50, hot water heating, cooker, tumble drier and washer etc. Heating is oil, the full tank cost $1000. looks like its a 1/3 down already.

Cookie

Our house is 2700 sq/ft and our monthly bill for electricity is $250 year round. This cover the cost of running a pool, dehumidifier and fans in the summer and heating in the winter. An air exchanger is used most of the year too.

Our main source of heat is by using our ETF system (2 storage heaters) which uses 1/2 or 1/3 price electricity during the night - a great saving and certainly keeps our house nice and warm. We also have baseboard heaters. We have a propane fire in the living room that we use occassionally and a woodstove in the basement which we use probably for around 2-3 months of the year.

Because our electricity is half price (or less) from 11pm til 7am, I use the dryer for laundry at 11pm before going to bed. I also use the timer on my dishwasher to let it run its cycle after 11pm. We also have 1/2 price or 1/3 price electricity all weekend (and on holidays too) so I usually wash the bedding and towels and bulky items then. I hang out my washing during the summer months. Overall, using off-peak electricity makes a good saving on our bills.

Here is the link to NS Power tarriffs for people using ETS System or underfloor heating: http://www.nspower.ca/about_nspi/rat...viceTime.shtml

Our house taxes are $3200 a year because we live within the town boundaries.